Marvell is doubling down on its 5G and data center chip business. Last week the company announced it will buy Avera Semiconductor, the application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) business of GlobalFoundries, for $650 million in cash. And today, Marvell said it will sell its WiFi connectivity business to NXP for $1.76 billion in a deal that will allow it to further invest in 5G and data center silicon.

The acquisition includes Marvell’s WiFi and Bluetooth technology portfolios and related assets. This business employs about 550 people worldwide and generated roughly $300 million in revenue for Marvell in its fiscal 2019.

Both boards of directors at NXP and Marvell have approved the acquisition, and it’s expected to close by the first quarter of calendar year 2020.

Marvell said it expects the sale to boost its gross and operating margins, and executives will further discuss the transaction during an earnings call on Thursday.

“NXP has built a broad consumer footprint and an optimized platform for IoT applications, making it an ideal home for our innovative WiFi technology and team,” said Matt Murphy, president and CEO of Marvell, in a statement. “At the same time, this transaction yields a premium valuation and substantially higher economic return for Marvell shareholders while accelerating our transformation into a leading infrastructure supplier spanning 5G, data center, enterprise, and automotive Ethernet applications.”

The chipmaker’s Avera purchase moves Marvell into the ASIC market at a time when the customizable microchips are becoming increasingly popular for more specialized workloads like machine learning and IoT. “The rise of 5G networks and edge computing should create greater demand for ASICs as most data will need to be processed in more places,” said Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research, in an earlier email with SDxCentral.

Marvell has made other major acquisitions in the silicon space, with the biggest being its $6 billion purchase of Cavium in July 2018. It also acquired Ethernet technology manufacturer Aquantia for $452 million earlier this month.